Patrick Stevens' coverage of college sports in D.C./Baltimore/Virginia, just the same as ever

Spiffy Chart®

02/21/2011

Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin was named the ACC's rookie of the week after averaging 25.0 points and 7.5 assists in games against Virginia Tech and N.C. State.

And as an interesting side note, Maryland at long last has collected more rookie of the week awards in the post-Joe Smith era than Smith himself earned in 1993-94 (six).

Indeed, Maryland is on a little run of sorts. Stoglin and Jordan Williams (two) have combined for three rookie of the week awards in the last 13 months. In the previous 15+ seasons, the Terps had totaled only four such honors.

02/09/2011

A question from a fellow reporter about the largest victory margin for Maryland in Comcast Center triggered a reminder I meant to scribble down.

Just what are the Terrapins' largest margins of victory in the building?

Maryland's 106-52 defeat of Longwood makes the list, but it isn't even the largest of the season. The rundown of the Terps' 10 biggest blowouts in the building opened in 2002 --- a list that includes three games from this year:

02/06/2011

Towson did Saturday what it has done often this season, absorb a close defeat that simply adds to an already miserable season.

The Tigers took a 63-60 home loss to Georgia State, a setback that dropped them to 0-13 in the CAA and kept them winless in 2011.

Only five other Division I non-independents have yet to win a league game --- Fordham (Atlantic 10), DePaul (Big East), Texas-Pan American (Great West), Georgia Southern (Southern) and Centenary (Summit). And while the Tigers (4-19) have endured their share of blowouts, seven of their conference losses have come by single digits.

In short, it's not a great situation for Towson, but probably not one worthy of already knowing it will be wearing road jerseys on the first day of the CAA tournament (because 4-win Northeastern plays both 5-win Georgia State and 5-win UNC Wilmington, one of the three has to be an eighth team to reach six victories).

The Tigers also established a most unwanted mark Saturday, passing 1985 East Carolina and 2006 James Madison for the most consecutive losses at the start of a conference season in CAA history.

School

Year

Losses

CAA W-L

CAA Tournament

Towson

2011

13

---

---

East Carolina

1985

12

1-13

Quarterfinal (0-1)

James Madison

2006

12

2-16

First round (0-1)

Navy

1989

11

1-13

Quarterfinal (0-1)

William and Mary

1990

11

2-12

Quarterfinal (0-1)

George Mason

1993

10

2-12

Quarterfinal (0-1)

The good news for Towson? That comes in a couple areas. It has no more games left against the top third of the CAA, and has a recent history of improving toward the end of the regular season. Throw in the plethora of close games, and chances are the Tigers will break through with something before long.

02/03/2011

As Duke began to pull away from Maryland last night in Comcast Center, there was a minor distraction (at least for one person with an Internet connection sitting in the media section).

Down in Charlottesville, Virginia was busy fending off Clemson for a 49-47 victory in a game no one would likely deem a work of art.

It was the first game between ACC teams to end without either team scoring at least 50 points since 1997.

It was the fourth game between ACC schools in the shot clock era to end without a team in the 50s, and just the second in the 35-second clock era (remember, the clock was 45 seconds when introduced in the mid-1980s).

It was the first game (including nonconference play) involving an ACC team without a team scoring 50 points in more than five years (Wake Forest's memorable 47-40 barnburner against Richmond just before Christmas in 2005).

So, yeah, last night's festivities at John Paul Jones Arena were rare. But no records were broken, even if Clemson and Virginia gave it a good go.

For those wondering, the ACC coach with the most games in the shot clock era that didn't escape the 40s is, somewhat predictably, Herb Sendek with four. He was also involved in the only game with an ACC team that didn't even make it into the 40s with a shot clock, losing 38-36 to Princeton early in his second season.

01/30/2011

The Terrapins' 74-63 defeat of Georgia Tech on Sunday follows up Thursday's 66-42 rout of Virginia. Earlier in the season, Maryland won 74-55 at Wake Forest.

Granted, those three teams aren't exactly entrenched in any NCAA tournament discussions. But those victories make this only the sixth Maryland team --- and the first since 2002 --- to collect three double-digit conference road victories.

One other thing: The Terrapins' three ACC road victories have come by a combined 54 points. The rest of the league's teams have combined for three double-digit conference road wins (Duke at both Wake Forest and N.C. State, plus Virginia Tech at Maryland).

01/26/2011

Less than an hour ago --- roughly two minutes after North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes got done shredding Miami in the closing minutes --- Raleigh radio host Joe Ovies asked just how effective Barnes has been in late-game situations.

So, here you go. The forward's work (in the final five minutes of games and overall) is included after the jump.

But the subject came up on coach Gary Williams' teleconference today, so it's worth diving into again.

"We’re going to shoot 'em just like we shot 'em against Clemson," Williams said.

That would be 65.7 percent, which is ever-so-slightly better than the season-long 63.3 percent. But Williams built on his reply.

"We shot really great down the stretch," Williams said. "That's where I think we are right now."

The Terps were 13-for-18 in the second half, a 72.2 percent figure. And pretty much all those foul shots possessed meaning, since Maryland's largest lead was eight points.

Naturally, this prompted some thinking. Just how has Maryland done in late/close situations. Fortunately, there's 19 box scores sitting in the office at D1scourse headquarters to figure that out.

And that, of course, means Spiffy Chart time.

This study covers any free throw attempted under both of the following two conditions:

1. It is in the final eight minutes of regulation or any overtime period2. Maryland led by no more than six, was tied or trailed by no more than nine at the time of the foul

That seems like a reasonable definition. Is it perfect? Tough to say. But it isn't out of the ordinary.

Player

L&C FT-All

L&C FT-ACC

Overall

Sean Mosley

1.000 (4/4)

1.000 (4/4)

.766 (36/47)

Dino Gregory

1.000 (2/2)

---

.686 (24/35)

Terrell Stoglin

.800 (4/5)

.667 (2/3)

.791 (34/43)

Adrian Bowie

.625 (5/8)

.667 (2/3)

.811 (43/53)

Pe'Shon Howard

.600 (3/5)

---

.526 (10/19)

Jordan Williams

.412 (7/17)

.667 (2/3)

.514 (73/142)

Cliff Tucker

.333 (2/6)

.333 (2/6)

.698 (30/43)

James Padgett

.250 (1/4)

.500 (1/2)

.465 (20/43)

The thing that stands out about this is the generally tiny individual sample sizes. No one's learning anything concrete about an individual's ability to thrive in late/close situations based on two free throws.

Nonetheless, as a team, Maryland is 28-for-51 (54.9 percent) in late/close situations and 257-for-399 (64.4 percent) at other times. Against ACC teams, Maryland is 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) in late/close scenarios.

So what's to make of it? Only the obvious. Maryland is going to be better served whenever the likes of Sean Mosley and Terrell Stoglin go to the foul line late in close games; they're better at shooting free throws than most of their teammates in general, and it stands to reason such work will transfer into any situation better.

Mosley and Stoglin were a combined 8-for-8 at the foul line against Clemson, including 4-for-4 in the final minute. It's just another sign Maryland's foul shooting can look a whole lot better, and a big piece of it is making sure the right people are getting fouled when a game is on the line.